My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

By Simon ParkinLeisureVideo Games
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My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin episodes

  • Alix Wilton Regan, voice-actor (Lara Croft, Samantha Traynor).

    Alix Wilton Regan is a British actress whose career has moved between film, television, theatre, and some of the biggest worlds in video games. She trained at Drama Studio London before building a screen career that has included playing Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce’s daughter in the Oscar-nominated The Wife, Mary Shelley in A Nightmare Wakes, and more recently roles in Patience and Bergerac.


    In games, she has become an especially familiar voice, playing Samantha Traynor in Mass Effect 3, the female Inquisitor in Dragon Age: Inquisition, Aya in Assassin’s Creed Origins, and Alt Cunningham in Cyberpunk 2077. In 2026, she was nominated for a BAFTA Games Award for her performance in Lies of P: Overture. And now, in Tomb Raider’s 30th anniversary year, she has taken on one of gaming’s most famous roles, providing the voice and full performance capture for Lara Croft in the forthcoming Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst.


    NOTES


    Alix Wilton Regan – website & socials

    Alix Wilton Regan – official website

    Alix Wilton Regan – Instagram (@alixwiltonregan)

    Alix Wilton Regan – Wikipedia

    Lara Croft’s new voice actor discusses the reimagined Tomb Raider – Deadline interview


    Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis & Catalyst

    Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis – Steam (out 12 February 2027)

    Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis – Wikipedia

    Tomb Raider: Catalyst – Wikipedia

    Crystal Dynamics – developer

    Flying Wild Hog – developer of Legacy of Atlantis

    TR30 Tomb Raider Day – Derby Quad


    Alix’s Perfect Console: “The Alex Pro Max” (and the Mini Alex Pro Max)

    Super Mario Land (Game Boy, 1989) – Wikipedia

    Tomb Raider (1996) – Wikipedia

    Tomb Raider I–III Remastered – Wikipedia

    Dragon Age: Origins (2009) – Wikipedia

    Mass Effect 3 (2012) – Wikipedia

    Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) – Wikipedia


    Games and roles mentioned

    Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) – the Angelina Jolie film, Wikipedia

    Tomb Raider (2013) – start of the “Survivor trilogy”, Wikipedia

    Camilla Luddington – Lara Croft in the Survivor trilogy, Wikipedia

    Cyberpunk 2077 – Wikipedia (Alix voices Alt Cunningham)

    Assassin’s Creed Origins – Wikipedia (Alix voices Aya)

    Lies of P – Wikipedia (includes the Overture DLC)

    Baldur’s Gate 3 – official site

    Jennifer Hale – Commander Shepard (FemShep) in Mass Effect, Wikipedia

    Mark Meer – Commander Shepard (MaleShep) in Mass Effect 3, Wikipedia

    Ben Starr – voice actor, Wikipedia

    British Academy Games Awards – Wikipedia


    Film, TV and theatre mentioned

    The Wife (2017) – Wikipedia

    A Nightmare Wakes – Wikipedia

    Hannah Waddingham – Wikipedia (the “Ted Lasso woman”)

    Emilia Clarke – Wikipedia (Daenerys, which Alix auditioned for)

    Carey Mulligan – Wikipedia (Pride & Prejudice)


    Schools and training

    Drama Studio London – Wikipedia

    Latymer Upper School – Wikipedia

    Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle – Wikipedia

    Sylvia Young Theatre School – Wikipedia


    Simon’s GTA VI cover story

    Edge issue 430: GTA VI cover story – GamesRadar

    Edge issue 430: GTA VI Special Gatefold Edition – buy or subscribe


    Support the show

    My Perfect Console on Patreon – early access, video episodes, monthly bonus episode and the Console Knockout vote

    Loom – this month’s bonus episode game (Wikipedia)

    My Perfect Console – episode archive and data

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 31 min
  • Becky Chambers, science-fiction author (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, As You Wake, Break the Shell).

    Becky Chambers is an American science-fiction writer whose work combines imaginative worlds with an unusual warmth and generosity toward the people who inhabit them. Raised in California in a family heavily involved in space science, she initially trained in the performing arts before turning to writing, and eventually self-published her debut novel, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, following a successful crowdfunding campaign. It became the first book in her Wayfarers series and established her as one of contemporary science fiction’s most distinctive voices.


    Her fiction has won Hugo and Locus awards, and been nominated for the Women’s Prize, the Nebula Award, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award.It is often described as “cosy sci-fi” or “hopepunk”, although she has characterised it more evocatively as holding up “both a mirror and a blanket to the world”. Her new novel, As You Wake, Break the Shell, which arrived this October, begins a new duology set on a hostile alien world but centred on a love story between a pilot and a reclusive botanist, and on questions of community and dependence.

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

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    1 hr 13 min
  • Matthew Seiji Burns, writer, designer, musician (Call of Duty, Halo, Eliza).

    Matthew Seiji Burns is an American writer, director, composer, and game designer whose career has moved between some of the biggest studios in the industry and much smaller, more personal experiments in interactive storytelling. He worked as a producer at Treyarch, Bungie, and 343 Industries on franchises including Call of Duty and Halo, before spending time at the University of Washington’s Center for Game Science, exploring how games might be used for research and scientific discovery.


    He later joined Zachtronics, contributing writing and music to games including Opus Magnum and EXAPUNKS, while also creating his own interactive fiction. In 2019, he created Eliza, a visual novel about an AI-assisted counselling service that explored automation and the boundaries between human empathy and technology years before those questions became unavoidable. His latest work has takenthose concerns into a different medium: Process, his debut novel, is a darkly comic and psychologically intense story set inside Seattle’s startup culture.


    LINKS


    Matthew Seiji Burns – website & socials

    Matthew Seiji Burns – official website

    Matthew Seiji Burns – Bluesky (@matthewseiji.com)

    Matthew Seiji Burns – itch.io (game experiments and back catalogue)


    Process – the novel

    Process – hardcover edition (Tune & Fairweather)

    Process – softcover edition (Tune & Fairweather)

    Process – audiobook (read by the author, Audible)

    Process – free digital sampler (Tune & Fairweather)


    Eliza – the visual novel (2019)

    Eliza – Steam

    Eliza – itch.io

    Joseph Weizenbaum – creator of the original ELIZA chatbot, Wikipedia

    ELIZA (chatbot, 1966) – Wikipedia


    The Writer Will Do Something (2015)

    The Writer Will Do Something – co-written with Tom Bissell, itch.io

    Tom Bissell – author of Extra Lives, previous My Perfect Console guest


    Matthew’s Perfect Console

    Of Monks and Max (HyperCard stack, 1988) – by Brian Thomas

    HyperCard – Wikipedia

    Loom – LucasArts (1990), Wikipedia

    ICO (PS2, 2001) – Fumito Ueda / Team Ico, Wikipedia

    Rez (Dreamcast, 2001) – Tetsuya Mizuguchi / United Game Artists, Wikipedia

    Rez Infinite – Steam (modern version)

    Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon – Steam

    Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon – Wikipedia


    Other games and references mentioned

    Opus Magnum – Zachtronics (Steam)

    Exapunks – Zachtronics (Steam)

    Dark Castle – remaster (Steam)

    Cosmic Osmo – Cyan (HyperCard, 1989), Wikipedia

    Myst – Cyan (1993), Wikipedia

    Call of Duty: United Offensive (expansion, 2004) – Wikipedia

    Call of Duty 3 – Wikipedia

    Halo 3 – Wikipedia

    Halo 3: ODST – Wikipedia

    Halo: Reach – Wikipedia

    Star Trek: Armada II – Wikipedia

    Medieval: Total War – Wikipedia

    University of Washington Center for Game Science

    Mark Wynne – graphic designer of Process (Edge magazine)

    Tune & Fairweather – publisher

    Jason Killingsworth – founder of Tune & Fairweather


    Support the show

    My Perfect Console – episode archive and data

    My Perfect Console on Patreon – early access, video episodes and monthly bonus episodes

    Email the show: [email protected]

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 28 min
  • Replay: Dr Greg Zeschuk, co-founder BioWare.

    Yesterday came the news that EA plans to close BioWare, the Edmonton studio behind Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. I thought it was a good moment to revisit my conversation with Dr Greg Zeschuk, one of BioWare’s co-founders. We talk about the games that shaped him, and the long, remarkable journey of a studio that defined computer and console role-playing games for millions of people. Here’s my conversation with Greg Zeschuk.


    [Original description] Greg Zeschuk is the co-founder of Bioware. While a medical student at the University of Alberta he told his future wife that, if he could, he’d make video games for a living. After he graduated, the dream came true when, in 1995, he and two friends y founded Bioware in his basement. The following year the trio released Shattered Steel and, two years after that, Baldur’s Gate, which revolutionised the world of computer role-playing games.


    In the years that followed Bioware released a string of blockbuster hits, including Mass Effect, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In 2007, just 12 years after its founding, the companywas sold to Electronic Arts as part of a deal worth $860 million. In recent years, my guest started a brewing company, Blind Enthusiasm, and today runs two microbreweries and a restaurant in Edmunton, where he has spent most of his life.


    NOTES


    Greg Zeschuk – BioWare & brewery

    Greg Zeschuk – Wikipedia

    Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company – official site

    Blind Enthusiasm – The Monolith taproom, Edmonton

    Greg Zeschuk on BioWare’s closure – Wired


    BioWare

    BioWare – Wikipedia

    Ray Muzyka – BioWare co-founder, Wikipedia

    Augustine Yip – BioWare co-founder, Wikipedia


    Greg’s Perfect Console

    Adventure (Atari 2600, 1980) – Wikipedia

    Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (Apple II, 1981) – Wikipedia

    Dungeon Master (Atari ST, 1987) – Wikipedia

    Diablo (1996) – Wikipedia

    Elden Ring (2022) – official site

    Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC – Wikipedia


    BioWare games discussed

    Baldur’s Gate (1998) – Wikipedia

    Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000) – Wikipedia

    Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) – Wikipedia

    Star Wars: The Old Republic (MMO) – official site

    Jade Empire (2005) – Wikipedia

    Mass Effect trilogy – Wikipedia

    Dragon Age: Origins – Wikipedia

    Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Wikipedia

    MDK2 (2000) – Wikipedia

    Shattered Steel (1996) – Wikipedia

    Anthem (2019) – Wikipedia


    Other games mentioned

    Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios

    Elden Ring – Wikipedia

    Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo

    Pool of Radiance (1988) – Wikipedia

    Lords of the Fallen (2023) – Steam


    Context and references mentioned

    EA Spouse – the 2004 open letter that sparked the games industry crunch debate

    Elevation Partners – Wikipedia (private equity firm that invested in BioWare)

    Interplay Entertainment – Wikipedia (early publisher partner)

    Blizzard North – Wikipedia (developers of Diablo)

    Order of Canada – Wikipedia (Greg was appointed in 2018)

    TSR, Inc. – Wikipedia (original owners of Dungeons & Dragons)

    Ian M. Banks – Culture series author, Wikipedia

    Alastair Reynolds – science fiction author, Wikipedia


    Support the show

    My Perfect Console – episode archive

    Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 18 min
  • Daryl Baxter, author and journalist (The Making of Tomb Raider).

    Daryl Baxter is a British writer and podcaster from Lincoln whose work has ranged across games, technology, and the history of the medium. He has written for outlets including WIRED, TechRadar, Den of Geek, and the Radio Times, and now publishes Springboard, a free newsletter about gaming, technology, and mental health that deliberately avoids chasing SEO or relying on AI. Growing up with series including Sonic, Metal Gear and, especially, Tomb Raider, he eventually turned that fascination into his first book, The Making of Tomb Raider, published in 2021 and based on extensive interviews with the original Core Design team.


    His new book, The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000, picks up the story as a new team took control of the series, tracing the creation of Tomb Raider III, The Last Revelation, Chronicles and the expansions, while exploring the punishing annual release cycle and the pressure of sustaining one of gaming’s biggest phenomena.


    LINKS


    Daryl Baxter – website & newsletter

    Daryl Baxter – official website

    Springboard – Daryl’s newsletter on games, tech and mental health (free to subscribe)


    The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000 (out 30 October 2026)

    The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000 – Waterstones

    The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000 – Pen & Sword Books

    The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000 – Amazon UK


    Daryl’s earlier books

    The Making of Tomb Raider (2021) – Pen & Sword Books

    50 Years of Boss Fights – Pen & Sword Books


    Daryl’s Perfect Console

    Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Mega Drive, 1994) – Wikipedia

    Sonic 3 & Knuckles – Wikipedia

    PlayStation Demo One disc (1995) – Wikipedia

    Tomb Raider II (1997) – Wikipedia

    Metal Gear Solid (1998) – Wikipedia

    Metal Gear Solid – Steam

    Half-Life 2 (2004) – Wikipedia

    Half-Life 2 – Steam


    Also mentioned

    TR30 Tomb Raider Day – Derby Quad, 24 October 2026

    Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis – Crystal Dynamics & Flying Wild Hog (out 12 February 2027)

    Tomb Raider: Catalyst – Wikipedia

    Alix Wilton Regan – the new voice of Lara Croft (Wikipedia)

    Peter Connelly – Tomb Raider 4 & 5 composer (Wikipedia)

    Judith Gibbons – Lara Croft’s voice in Tomb Raider II, Wikipedia

    Shelley Blond – Lara Croft’s voice in Tomb Raider I

    Keeley Hawes – Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Underworld

    Half-Life 2 source code leak – Wikipedia

    Games Master magazine – Wikipedia

    GamesRadar – Rosalie Newcombe

    Death by Video Game – Simon Parkin (buy via Bookshop.org UK)


    Support the show

    My Perfect Console – episode archive and data

    Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 18 min
  • Will de Renzy-Martin, actor (The Blood of Dawnwalker, 007 First Light, Crimson Desert).

    Will de Renzy-Martin is a British actor and voice performer whose career has increasingly become intertwined with video games. As a child, he was fascinated by storytelling and by watching his older brothers play Ocarina of Time, but initially followed a rather different path, reading Computing at Imperial College London. Before long, however, he changed direction, training as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he discovered voiceover shortly before graduating in 2017.


    Since then, he has built an extensive career in games, with roles in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, Zenless Zone Zero, Warframe: The Old Peace, 007 First Light, Nioh 3, and many more. His biggest role to date, however, is Coen, the lead character in Rebel Wolves’ dark fantasy RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, a performance that’s put him at the centre of one of 2026’s most ambitious new games.


    NOTES


    Will de Renzy-Martin – website & socials

    Will de Renzy-Martin – official website (WillVoice.it)

    Will de Renzy-Martin – Bluesky (@willvoiceit.bsky.social)

    Will de Renzy-Martin – Instagram (@willvoiceit)


    The Blood of Dawnwalker

    The Blood of Dawnwalker – official site

    The Blood of Dawnwalker – Steam

    Rebel Wolves – the studio behind the game


    Will’s Perfect Console

    Breath of Fire II (SNES/GBA, 1994) – Wikipedia

    The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64, 2000) – Wikipedia

    The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) – Wikipedia

    The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered – Steam

    Devil May Cry 4 (2008) – Wikipedia

    Devil May Cry 5 – Steam

    Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) – Wikipedia


    Other games and references mentioned

    Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The First Cases – Wikipedia (Will’s first major game role)

    Zenless Zone Zero – Wikipedia (Will voices Von Lycaon)

    Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader – Steam

    007: First Light – official site

    Leonie Schliesing – voice actor who first encouraged Will into games VO (Cyberpunk 2077, AC Valhalla)

    Big Mouth Audio – the Glasgow audio studio where Will auditioned for Dawnwalker

    Guildhall School of Music and Drama – where Will trained

    Imperial College London – where Will studied Computing

    Darksiders – Wikipedia

    Meat Machine – the AI voice acting experiment Will references

    Ninja Theory – British studio (DMC reboot, Hellblade)

    Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Steam

    A Game of Birds and Wolves – Simon Parkin’s book (optioned for film)


    My Perfect Console website

    myperfectconsole.com – the new searchable episode archive and data site


    Support the show

    Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 22 min
  • Úna-Minh Kavanagh, writer, producer and Irish-language game localiser (Among Us, VVVVVV).

    My guest today is an Irish writer, producer, and multimedia creator whose work spans journalism, video games, language, and digital culture. Born in Vietnam, she was adopted at three days old by a primary school teacher from County Kerry, and brought to Ireland at six weeks of age. Irish became one of her spoken languages, and it would go on to shape both her education and her career: she later studied Irish and Journalism at Dublin City University, building a body of work that moves across reporting, video games, and digital culture.


    She has written books and essays on video games, migration, identity, and food, and has become a leading voice in Irish-language digital media through her localisation work on games including Among Us and VVVVVV. In 2026, she was recognised with the Emerging Talent award at the Irish Games Awards.


    NOTES


    Úna-Minh Kavanagh – website & socials

    Úna-Minh Kavanagh – Bluesky (@unaminh.bsky.social)

    Organic Matters – Úna-Minh's new Irish indie studio

    Organic Matters – itch.io


    CTRL: Essays on Video Games (the book featuring Úna-Minh's essay)

    CTRL: Essays on Video Games – Lilliput Press (Waterstones)

    Lilliput Press – publisher


    Among Us – Irish language localisation

    Among Us – official site (Innersloth)

    Among Us on Steam


    VVVVVV – Irish language localisation

    VVVVVV – Terry Cavanagh, official site

    VVVVVV – Steam


    Úna-Minh's Perfect Console

    Final Fantasy IX (2000) – Wikipedia

    Final Fantasy IX – Steam

    Nobuo Uematsu – composer, Wikipedia

    Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Nintendo DS, 2007) – Wikipedia

    Persona 4 Golden (PS Vita, 2012) – Wikipedia

    Persona 4 Golden – Steam

    This War of Mine (2014) – official site

    This War of Mine – Steam

    Saltsea Chronicles (2023) – Die Gute Fabrik

    Saltsea Chronicles – Steam


    Also mentioned

    Die Gute Fabrik – studio behind Saltsea Chronicles

    Hannah Nicklin – studio lead and creative director, Die Gute Fabrik

    Citizen Sleeper – Gareth Damian Martin / Jump Over The Age

    Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector – Steam

    Limit Break – mentorship programme for marginalised game developers

    IMIRT – Irish Game Makers association (Irish Games Awards)

    Global Game Jam

    itch.io – indie games platform

    Dublin City University – where Úna-Minh studied Irish and journalism


    Support the show

    My Perfect Console – episode archive

    Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 15 min
  • Paolo Pedercini, founder MolleIndustria (McDonald's Videogame, The New York Times Simulator, Future? No Thanks!)

    Paolo Pedercini is an Italian game designer, artist, educator, and activist whose work has spent more than two decades challenging assumptions about what video games are for, and what they are allowed to say. In 2003, he founded Molleindustria as a project dedicated to the "reappropriation of video games and the radicalisation of popular culture."


    Since then, he has created a remarkable body of short, provocative games about labour, capitalism, religion, technology, and political power, including McDonald’s Videogame, Oiligarchy, Every Day the Same Dream, Phone Story, and Democratic Socialism Simulator. His games have often been satirical, often controversial, and always interested in using play as a way of thinking through systems and ideology. Now he is working on his most ambitious project yet: Future? No Thanks!, an open-world comedy adventure about a grumpy old man completing his bucket list in a solarpunk future.


    NOTES:


    Paolo Pedercini / Molleindustria

    Molleindustria – official site (all Paolo's games)

    Paolo Pedercini – Wikipedia

    Paolo Pedercini – Bluesky (@molleindustria.org)


    Future? No Thanks! (out now)

    Future? No Thanks! – Steam

    Future? No Thanks! – official site


    Other Molleindustria games mentioned

    McDonald's Video Game – play free in browser

    Oiligarchy – play free in browser

    Every Day the Same Dream – play free in browser

    Phone Story – Wikipedia

    Democratic Socialism Simulator – itch.io

    Faith Fighter – play free in browser


    Sweatshop (as mentioned by Simon)

    Sweatshop – play in browser


    The New Yorker piece (as mentioned by Simon)

    The Division 2 and the Severing of Politics from Video Games – The New Yorker


    Paolo's Perfect Console

    Cannon Fodder (Sensible Software, 1993) – Wikipedia

    Sensible Software – Wikipedia

    Shadow of the Colossus (2005) – Wikipedia

    Grand Theft Auto V – Rockstar Games

    Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Wikipedia

    Push Me Pull You – House House (Steam)

    House House – developer of Untitled Goose Game and Big Walk

    Radiator Forever – Robert Yang (itch.io)

    Robert Yang – game designer


    Other games and references mentioned

    Theme Park – Bullfrog Productions (1994), Wikipedia

    Postal 2 – Wikipedia

    GTA San Andreas Hot Coffee mod – Wikipedia

    The Yes Men – activist/prankster duo

    Foxconn suicides – Wikipedia

    itch.io – indie games platform

    Aftermath – independent games journalism

    Tom Bissell – My Perfect Console episode

    Untitled Goose Game – House House


    Next week's guest

    Úna Míng Kavanagh – IMIRT emerging talent award 2026

    Úna Míng Kavanagh – TikTok (@unamingkavanagh)


    Support the show

    My Perfect Console – episode archive

    Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 22 min
  • Anna Donlon, head of Valorant Studios (Valorant, League of Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops)

    My guest today is an American game producer and studio leader whose career has been shaped by a deep love of competitive shooters and more than two decades spent building some of the genre’s major titles. She began at Treyarch, where she worked as a senior producer on Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops II, before joining Riot Games in 2015. There, she first helped lead League of Legends’ cosmetic content and in-game events.


    She later moved into leading a new tactical shooter project, becoming Executive Producer of VALORANT and guiding the game to its launch in 2020. Today, as Head of VALORANT Studios, she oversees the franchise’s wider creative and strategic direction, while also championing initiatives such as VCT Game Changers, Riot’s programme supporting women and marginalised genders in competitive play.


    LINKS


    Anna Donlon – Valorant & Riot Games

    Valorant – official site (free to play)

    VCT Game Changers – Riot's programme supporting women and marginalised genders in competitive play

    Riot Games – official site


    Anna's Perfect Console

    Silent Hill 2 (PS2, 2001) – Wikipedia

    Silent Hill 2 Remake (2024) – Steam

    Grand Theft Auto III (PS2, 2001) – Wikipedia

    Shadow of the Colossus (PS2, 2005) – Wikipedia

    Shadow of the Colossus Remake (2018) – PlayStation

    BioShock (2007) – Wikipedia

    Ghost of Tsushima – official site

    Ghost of Tsushima – PlayStation

    Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island – Wikipedia


    Also mentioned

    Kaboom! (Atari 2600) – Wikipedia

    ICO (PS2, 2001) – Wikipedia

    Red Dead Redemption 2 – Rockstar Games

    Arc Raiders – Steam

    Call of Duty: Black Ops – Wikipedia

    Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Wikipedia

    Treyarch – Wikipedia

    JumpStart – educational games series, Wikipedia

    University of California, Santa Cruz


    Next week's guest

    Paolo Pedercini / Molleindustria – official site

    Future? No Thanks! – Steam (out now)


    Support the show

    My Perfect Console – episode archive

    Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 31 min
  • Correspondence Special #9: Which games should have been on the podcast by now (and much more)

    In this special correspondence edition, Simon reads out your letters and answers your questions.


    Is there a cut-off point for working in games journalism? Which video game does Simon think should surely have been picked by now but hasn't? Who decides how long guests talk about their game choices? How does Simon actually make the show — from bookings to post-production to those musical stingers? What is Simon's new book about, and how did he uncover the untold legal battle thxat changed the shape of the video game industry? And did you know the UK government has a Head of Video Games and Esports who listens to the show? Us neither! All this and much more.


    And congratulations to letter-writer Chris Law, who wins a signed copy of Blood Echoes: A Bloodborne Anthology.

    .

    Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

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    39 min

About My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

From the publisher's feed

In My Perfect Console, Simon Parkin, award-winning author video game critic for The Observer invites well-known guests from the worlds of gaming, film and television, music,…

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